Solangelo 4

Part 34

WILL

I wake up to the sound of Nico and Percy playing I spy. At first I think I'm still dreaming, but Nico's ongoing frustration at Percy's continuous water-themed answers are too real.
'You can't see any puddles from here.' Nico insists.
'I can see them.' Percy says back.
'There are no puddles.' Nico says again, 'we're driving too fast.'
'They're there.' He says. I open my eyes and I see him smiling. He loves annoying Nico.
'Gods, please tell me we're nearly there.' He says, leaning back in his seat.
'We're there.' Percy says.
'What?'
'We're here.' He says, pulling to a stop. Nico looks about and so do I. We're at the camp. He turns round to me, Annabeth and Leo, 'wake up you lazy bastards. We're here.'
'What?' Leo says groggily, sitting up and wiping his eyes. Annabeth yawns and sits up from where she was leaning against Leo.
Luckily, as an Apollo kid, I wake up pretty easily. I get out the car and stretch a little, before feeling completely awake again. Nico gets out the car and moves one of my arms around his shoulder, and drapes his arm around my waist. He leans against me as we start our walk towards camp.
'You looking forward to seeing Hazel?' I ask.
'I hadn't even processed that.' He says, peeking up a little, 'I haven't seen her in so long.'
'Reyna too.' I say.
'I can't believe I didn't think about this till now.' He says. In a matter or seconds, his groggy mood has turned into one of excitement. I'm slightly worried he's going to shadow travel to get there quicker.
Percy, Annabeth and Leo trail behind us, but Nico's new found impatience gets us to the entrance a while before them.
He moves past the crowds of people, holding my hand and leading me through after him. We get to the main temple and he pushes the door open. A few people sit along the table, but Reyna is at the head. She looks up to see Nico. And in that instance, Nico can't wait any longer. He shadow travels right beside Reyna and hugs her tightly. Reyna hugs him back, just as tight.
'What are you doing here?' She asks, letting go of him briefly just to hug him again.
'Long story.' He says.
'Oh Gods. Really?'
'The others can explain.'
'Others?' She asks, hesitant.
'Percy, Annabeth and Leo.' Nico clarifies.
'Leo?'
'I'll let him explain.' He says again.
'Gods, I've missed you.' She says. She looks up and sees me, 'Will, it's good to see you again.'
'You too, Reyna.' I say, nodding to her.
'Have you seen Hazel yet?'
'We just got here.' He says.
'I think she's in the armoury. You should go, she'll be so happy.' Reyna says, 'I'll see you later.'
They hug one last time before we head outside again. Nico is rushing through the crowds again, leading me behind him, when he stops suddenly.
'What?' I ask, 'what's wrong?'
'That's Percy's step-dad.' He says, pointing to a man walking past.
'What?' I ask.
'Paul!' Nico shouts out, and the man turns around. Nico goes up to him, confused, 'what are you...why are you here?'
'Nicolas, right?' Paul asks. Nico looks repulsed by the use of his lengthened name.
'Nico.' He insists.
'Nico, of course.' Paul says, 'I don't suppose Percy's with you?'
'He is...why are you here?' He asks again.
'Did Percy not tell you?' He pauses and thinks to himself, 'or did I not tell Percy?'
'Paul, you've got to give me something. Are you okay? Is Sally okay?'
'Oh we're fine! Reyna reached out to me to give a lecture to some students at the university. All about mortals in this world and so on. Interesting stuff. You should stop by.' He says.
'I...this is...incredibly weird.' Nico says, looking from Paul to me, 'I...you should talk to Percy. He'll be with Reyna probably.'
'It was lovely running into you, Nicolas.' He says, heading off.
'Sure.' Nico says, watching him walk away, 'that was weird. Did that just happen?'
'Yeah.' I say, 'that was so weird.'
'Okay. Okay, I want to see Hazel.' Nico says, 'I'm just going to blow right past this.'
He carries on going and I follow him. I forget that he knows this camp so well.
'Hazel!' Nico shouts, she hears him from a while away. She turns and I can see her smile from where I am. Nico shadow travels again and almost toppled her over with the force of his hug.
I catch up to them, and Hazel gives me a hug too.
'I can't believe you're here. I can't believe you're here!' She smiles, looking from Nico to me.
'Annabeth, Percy and Leo are here too.' Nico says.
'Leo's here?! Oh my gosh!' She looks incredibly excited, and hugs Nico again, 'did you just get here? Who've you seen?'
'Just Reyna.' Nico says.
'And Percy's step-dad.' I add.
'Yeah, and Percy's step-dad? Did you know about that?' He asks.
'Oh yeah, he's giving these amazing lectures. You should try see one.' She says.
'I'll pass.' Nico says.
'It's so good to see you.' She says, smiling and pushing his hair out of his face. He cups her face in his hands and kisses her on her forehead.
'I've missed you.' He says.